South Africa’s parliament will today hold a special sitting debate on a report by a panel of legal experts which found that President Cyril Ramaphosa may have broken his oath of office.
This is in connection with the Phala Phala farm scandal hanging over the president, in which Ramaphosa has been accused of a cover-up following the theft of foreign currency at his private game farm back in 2020.
“A serious misconduct in that the president violated section 96(2)(b) by acting in a way that is inconsistent with his office. A serious misconduct in that the president violated section 96(2)(b) by exposing himself to a situation involving a conflict between his official responsibilities and his private business,” read the report.
Ramaphosa’s fate will be in the hands of MPs as they vote on whether he should be impeached or not.
He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
The President’s governing ANC party has instructed its 230 lawmakers including those known to be against the president to reject the report.
If Ramaphosa survives the encounter in parliament, he is likely to be re-elected as ANC president at the party’s elective conference which starts on Friday.
In February 2020, some $4m (Sh425 million) was stolen in cash from Ramaphosa’s farm in Bela-Bela, Limpopo Province, but the president never filed a police report of the said-theft, raising questions on how the money was acquired.
A newsmaker, reporter and anchor at Pearl Radio, Ndalilah Sharon is witty and savvy.
She is also a firm believer of Christ.